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Arthothelium feuereri

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Arthothelium feuereri is a rare rock-dwelling crustose lichen from the Seychelles. It was described in 2004 by André Aptroot and Mark Seaward and is known only from a single granite summit on Les Trois Frères, Mahé, at about 500 meters elevation. The species is named in honor of Tassilo Feuerer, who collected the holotype in 1994.

Taxonomy
- Kingdom: Fungi; Division: Ascomycota; Class: Arthoniomycetes; Order: Arthoniales; Family: Arthoniaceae
- Genus: Arthothelium; Species: feuereri
- Binomial name: Arthothelium feuereri Aptroot & Seaward, 2004

Description
- Thallus: very thin, smooth, pale brown, glaze-like; usually with a narrow black edge (hypothallus)
- Algae: tiny green Stichococcus cells inside the thallus
- Apothecia: black, sessile, 0.5–1 mm in diameter
- Asci: nearly spherical, about 100–150 μm long and 80–125 μm wide; each ascus contains four spores
- Spores: hyaline to very pale brown, ellipsoid, densely muriform (many chambers) with 9–11 longitudinal and 7–12 transverse walls; 40–50 × 20–25 μm; enlarged end cells give a macrocephalic look
- Spore sheath: thin, 1–2 μm
- Chemistry: the thallus contains gyrophoric acid
- Reproduction: no asexual structures observed

Habitat and distribution
- Habitat: saxicolous (on rock), growing on exposed granite
- Location: summit ridge of Les Trois Frères on Mahé, Seychelles
- Status: known from a single population; may be endemic to the Seychelles and not found on coastal rocks or tree bark like many related species

Discovery and naming
- Described by Aptroot and Seaward in 2004
- Holotype collected on 6 March 1994 by Tassilo Feuerer on bare granite at about 500 m elevation
- The species epithet honors Feuerer for his collection

References
- Aptroot, A. & Seaward, M.R.D. (2004). Four Seychelles lichens new to science. The Lichenologist, 36(2), 119–124.


This page was last edited on 1 February 2026, at 22:51 (CET).